Parliament of Western Australia Hon George Strickland

HON GEORGE STRICKLAND

Condolence Motion

Legislative Assembly Thursday, 15 August 2019

Reprinted from Hansard

Legislative Assembly

Thursday, 15 August 2019 ______

GEORGE JOSEPH STRICKLAND Condolence Motion MR M. McGOWAN (Rockingham — Premier) [9.01 am]: — without notice: I move — That this house records its sincere regret at the death of Hon George Strickland and tenders its deep sympathy to his family. Today we acknowledge the passing of George Strickland, a much beloved Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. I acknowledge his family and friends who are in the gallery today: his wife Helen Strickland; his children Tony, Debbie and Denise, and their partners; his grandchildren; and all other family members and friends who are here today. On behalf of the government, I would like to pass on our condolences. After looking over George’s biography and the words that he spoke, it seemed he lived his life without any great burning desire to be a member of Parliament or to be involved in politics. However, that is not to say he was not incredibly civic minded. It is clear that he had a passion for organisations that served the Western Australian community. What is more, he had a habit of leaving them better than when he found them. George Joseph Strickland was born in October 1942 in St Kilda, Victoria, to George Strickland and Ellen Margaret Sykes. He arrived in Western Australia just a few years later. He received his education at Forrest State Primary School, Wesley College and the Western Australian Institute of Technology, where he obtained a Bachelor of Applied Science in Physics. For the younger of us in the room today, that institution is now known as Curtin University. He then joined the education department in 1962 as a teacher. He taught manual arts at Scarborough from 1962 until 1973. He had a short break to study for his Diploma of Education at the Western Australian College of Education in 1974, before returning to the classroom to teach mathematics at Lockridge Senior High School and Hampton Senior High School. It was during this time that George became incredibly involved in his community. In fact, his parliamentary biography stops trying to list all his involvements because there were too many. He was passionate about Little Athletics, stamp-collecting, Star Swamp Reserve and so many more local groups and clubs. He mentioned in his final speech to Parliament that this was something he got from his father. He noted that at one point in time his father was on 36 or so committees, which gave George Strickland Jr his interest in public life. The rest came from his experience of contributing on cadet camps as a teacher. Inevitably, someone who is so involved in public life gets sucked into public affairs. From 1981 until 1990, George Strickland served on the City of Stirling council, including two years as mayor. In 1988, he was approached by local business people to run for the Liberal Party in Scarborough. He went on to win that election in 1989, beating Graham Burkett. He served the people of Scarborough until 1996, until that seat was abolished. He then represented Innaloo until 2001. George is best known for the role that he played as Speaker of this place from 1997 until 2001, the second term of Richard Court’s Liberal government. It is fair to say that he was held in fairly high regard for the way he conducted himself as Speaker of the Parliament. Despite being the last Speaker to wear the wig, George was actually a fairly independent Speaker and a true reformer. Many of the features of the Parliament are innovations of George: the granting of a right of reply to persons adversely referred to in the house; improvements to the estimates system; the system of standing committees; pecuniary interest declarations; delegated legislation; and time management. They were some of reforms that were introduced in 1998 and 1999 by the committee that George chaired. Behind the scenes, George modernised the Parliament outside the chamber by establishing the Parliamentary Services Department and the management executive committee, and even bringing in financial planning and human resources expertise for the organisation. George was Speaker when I first arrived here in 1997 and during my first four years as a first-term backbencher. I remember him well. He was very authoritative in the Chair. He did not yell. He did not stand and scream or any of those sorts of things. He used a quiet authority to get his way. I recall that on those occasions when somebody was misbehaving, he would stand up and say nothing. The whole place would go quiet as he just stood and said nothing. He would stand there, looking at everyone for 30 seconds, and then he would sit down and everything would calm down. That was a certain technique that he used. I recall that he used to take a particular interest in a member of Parliament who sat next to me whose name was Bill Thomas. I sat in the far corner of the chamber over there. Bill was a very gentle, lovely fellow, but he would be prone to outbursts. George would look at him until he fell silent. I remember one time that Bill referred to a Liberal minister as a snake in the grass, at which time George called him to order and insisted that he withdraw the remark, which Bill did. Bill then referred to the same minister as a serpent in the herbaceous flora, which somehow escaped censure from George.

Reprinted from Hansard [1] George liked the Parliament. He knew the standing orders very well. I thought his knowledge of the standing orders was outstanding. Of course, when you first arrive here, you really have no idea what is going on. Understanding the standing orders was one of his great strengths. He was quite a bipartisan fellow, and in his quieter moments, he would express not a disdain for politics, but that he was a little bit above the hurly-burly, if people understand what I mean. He gave me some advice when he was leaving his seat of Innaloo. This is something that he said to me that proved not to be correct. The Labor candidate for the seat of Innaloo was Hon John Quigley. George said to me, “Young Mark, you’re going to regret getting John Quigley into this Parliament.” He told me, “You’re going to regret John Quigley. He’s going to be wild and uncontrollable and you’ll really, really hate it.” All George’s advice on everything else proved to be pretty prescient, but he was incorrect on that one. I liked George. He was a decent man and a great contributor to Western Australia. I know he was much loved by his family and he loved his family in turn. George had a great career in Parliament. He was a reformer and he did very well; he rose to very high office. George had a fortunate life and he contributed greatly. This place is very fortunate for having had him here. Vale George Strickland. MRS L.M. HARVEY (Scarborough — Leader of the Opposition) [9.10 am]: I rise to contribute to this condolence motion for my friend Hon George Strickland, AM—1942 to 2019. George Strickland was a family man, community activist and for 12 years a strong-minded member of the Legislative Assembly who served as a very effective Speaker of this house. He was born in Victoria in 1942, but grew up in South Perth, after in 1946 his family moved to Western Australia, where his father worked as a professional engineer. He was educated at a local primary school and at Wesley College from 1953 to 1959. With his father serving as a local government councillor, who at one stage sat on 36 committees, he grew up with an ethic of service and an interest in public affairs. George Strickland trained as a teacher and began his career in 1962. He taught manual arts at Scarborough Senior High School until 1973, when he undertook further study at the Western Australian Secondary Teachers College. He also qualified with a Bachelor of Applied Science in physics. He went on to teach mathematics at Lockridge Senior High School in 1975 and at Hampton Senior High School in 1985. At the same time, he was serving the community in such areas as Little Athletics WA and as officer of cadets at Scarborough high school from 1965 to 1974. He was chairman of the Riley Reserve Advisory Committee from 1978 until 1999. George’s community service ethic saw him elected as a City of Stirling councillor and he served the city’s constituents from 1981 to 1989. His fellow councillors elected him deputy mayor and he served in the role from 1984 to 1986. He served as mayor from 1986 to 1988. He also served as chairman of finance at the City of Stirling. During his tenure at the City of Stirling, George committed to setting the city free from the practice of securing loans to fund capital works and put together a 10-year plan to make the City of Stirling debt free in the interests of delivering lower council rates to the constituency. George was well on the way to achieving that goal when he left council for Parliament; the city was effectively debt free in 1993. George was nominated as the seventh Honorary Freeman of the City of Stirling on 23 February 2000 in recognition of his service to the residents of the City of Stirling. It is an honour that has been conferred on only 10 individuals since 1972. George’s community activities included membership of the Meath Homes committee from 1981 to 1993 and chairing the Star Swamp/Trigg Bushland Advisory Committee for 10 years from 1985. Because of his community service and profile, George Strickland was approached by the Liberal Party to contest the seat of Scarborough. In 1988, he was endorsed as a candidate and concluded his mayoral term. Although a redistribution had included Karrinyup within the district, the late Graham Burkett, after six years’ incumbency, enjoyed a substantial majority with a margin of more than seven per cent. At the 1989 state election, George Strickland was successful in gaining a majority of 609 votes, or 51.6 per cent. It was an election in which the Liberal Party otherwise had difficulty winning marginal seats. He paid generous tribute to his defeated opponent in his first speech. From June 1990 until the 1993 state election, he served as opposition shadow Minister for Community Services; Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs. With his customary thoroughness, George attended a large number of meetings and functions, quietly winning support for the Liberal Party. His vigorous representation of Scarborough resulted in his re-election with an increased majority of 2 350 votes, or 56.2 per cent. In the first term of the Court coalition government, George Strickland was Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees. A redistribution in 1995 removed Liberal-voting areas from his electorate, squeezed it eastward into Balcatta and renamed it Innaloo. The electorate now had a narrow margin of only 2.6 per cent. George accepted this new challenge, retaining the seat of Innaloo at the December 1996 election with a comfortable 1 628 votes, or 54 per cent. When the thirty-fifth Parliament met on 6 March 1997, George Strickland was unanimously elected as the twenty-sixth Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. He sought to be a reformist and began the practice of forwarding complimentary videos of first speeches to members and ensuring that citizens subject to adverse comment in the house were given the right to present a statement to the Speaker for a printed reply. During the highly contentious 1998 debate on abortion legislation, he exercised the right of a Speaker to participate in committee debate. In 1999, he clarified

Reprinted from Hansard [2] the role of advisers on the floor of the house, ruling that only the member in charge of a bill could have such assistance. As Chair of the Procedure and Privileges Committee, he ensured that a major revision of standing orders was undertaken. Procedures for estimates committees, pecuniary interest declarations, delegated legislation and time management were updated and came into effect in March 2000. Most significantly, a report was tabled in 2000 for the implementation of a Legislative Assembly standing committee system, which exists to this day. With the cooperation of Legislative Council President Hon George Cash, George Strickland implemented the Commission on Government recommendation to create a Parliamentary Services Department so that essential joint services, such as Hansard and the Library, were no longer divided between the two houses. George was part of my campaign committee. As has been mentioned earlier, George was very much a pragmatist. When I was considering running for preselection for the Liberal Party, I went into Liberal headquarters for a meeting with the president of the party and ran into George. As I walked in, George walked out, having been in to see the president in support of another candidate! That individual, as it happened, did not apply for preselection; however, I did, and upon my success, I approached George and asked him for his help. George was very kind to me. He introduced me to many people in the community, in clubs and in community groups. With George on my campaign committee and Hon Jim Clarko—I was privileged to have two former Speakers on my campaign committee, Mr Speaker—our meetings were robust and full of laughter, as Hon George and Hon Jim would feed off each other with ripping yarns. However, they both provided me with a wealth of good, sound advice on marginal-seat campaigning. I modelled my local campaigning on George’s example, knowing how highly regarded he was in the community. When the sad news of George’s passing became more widely known, he was the topic of discussion at many local events. It is always the local stories that resonate. As George always said to me while he was on my campaign committee, all politics is local. I met an amazing number of George’s students from when he taught at Scarborough Senior High School, and not one of them spoke of him with anything less than admiration and a great deal of fondness. George was the architect of a number of very good outcomes for many of our local clubs. George brokered a deal with the City of Stirling that ensured that both Trigg Island and Scarboro Surf Life Saving Clubs have unique secure funding arrangements with the city. George took advantage of the opportunity that arose when the Trigg Island Surf Life Saving Club was refurbished and the restaurant leased to ensure that an income stream from the lease would flow back to the two surf clubs. This has allowed both clubs to have a more sustainable revenue stream than most other surf clubs enjoyed. A few years ago George also made a substantial donation to the Trigg Island Surf Life Saving Club from his own pocket to assist with the refurbishment of its clubrooms. When he made that donation there was no grandstanding or chest beating; he made the contribution to that club in recognition of its contribution and development of his own family, in particular his grandchildren who were members and successful competitors in various competitions. The example that George set has clearly flowed through to his family, with his children and grandchildren being contributors to our community as volunteers in a variety of capacities. I know that George was so very proud of his family. I was recently at the Scarborough Sportsmen’s Club annual general meeting and the former president and life member of the Scarborough Cricket Club Peter Wearne reminded me of George’s contribution there. George had said to Peter that he was going to take the city to a secure financial position and indeed, when George left the city, as I said earlier, it had record reserve funds and was back in the black. The Scarborough Cricket Club and the Scarborough Sportsmen’s Club were at war at the time, with the cricket club trying to get some independence for its own clubrooms. George took advantage of an opportunity when the sportsmen’s club lease was up for renewal and ensured, as he had promised, that the cricket clubrooms portion was excised from the lease with the sportsmen’s club, thereby ensuring the cricket club had security of tenure over its clubrooms, with its own leasing arrangements. George was also heavily involved with the Croatian Club in Gwelup, which was started in 1982. George had some significant input into ensuring the Croatian Club and its soccer club had the facilities it needed, with George taking a commonsense approach to the resistance from the bureaucracy regarding a water main and intervening for the community to set the best outcome. In typical George Strickland style, he refused to have a grand memorial service hosted by the City of Stirling, instead opting for a service to be held at the local Croatian Club, a club full of memories and the local people whom George had such rapport with. George’s memorial service was attended by so many people from his personal life and from his civic life as councillor and parliamentarian. It is always significant when we see members from both sides of politics represented to celebrate the life of a fellow parliamentarian. I note Hon Michelle Roberts was at George’s memorial service and spoke of her longstanding friendship with him. George would often remark to me that he felt at times he had more friends on the opposite side of politics than in his own party room, and I know he would have thought it hilarious that the member for Midland and I were both contributors at his memorial service, having been sparring partners in this chamber from when I arrived at this place in 2008.

Reprinted from Hansard [3] I was very honoured and most grateful to Helen for allowing me to visit on what became George’s last day with us. I cherished the opportunity to sit with George and thank him for all that he had done for me and for our community, and was able to say goodbye. I will hold that memory forever. George wanted to pass away at home, Helen having moved heaven and earth to grant him that wish. I would like to commend Helen for her selflessness in looking after the love of her life, her husband of 57 years. George served his last term as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and made his final statement in November 2000. In that statement he summarised the values that had sustained his public career — I am a guy who did not have a lot of money, but I have been very rich in people. During my time in public life, hundreds of people have given me support, generally because I have taken up their battles. Some members may wonder how Strickland, the Liberal, holds what one could say was a relatively safe Labor seat. It is because of my community involvement and a genuine desire to stand up and be counted. I have fought the City of Stirling, the Little Athletics committee, cabinet decisions in the party room and the Government. I stand up for that in which I believe. I have a definite political philosophy and I strongly support the direction of the Liberal Party, but from time to time I like to argue with the detail. There is nothing wrong with that. A good bit of scrutiny and a few questions here and there shake the thing around, which is healthy for democracy. He also affirmed his commitment to his family, paying tribute to his parents and stating — My second element of fortune was to marry my wife, Helen. I was married at a young age and her influence, as well as that of my family, has been great. Perhaps it stopped me from having a more wayward youth, because I had responsibilities at a young age. I am now receiving the great benefits—at the relatively young age of 58—of eight grandchildren. I look forward to the prospect of wonderful things in my involvement with them. George Strickland continued to serve the community in retirement as a justice of the peace until 2010 and as a committee member of the Stirling Philatelic Society. He was a valued source of support and counsel in successful Liberal campaigns in Scarborough in 2008 and 2013. George received the well merited recognition of a Centenary of Federation medal in 2003 and Member of the Order of Australia in 2007. On behalf of the Parliamentary Liberal Party, I extend our sympathy to Helen Strickland, their son, Tony, and daughters Debbie and Denise, who are here today in the gallery with their partners, grandchildren and families. I also note in the gallery today a collection of people from George’s community service and his service with the City of Stirling. His electorate officers, Stephanie Power and Lyn Williams, who served George very well and continued until recently to serve Liberal members in the north metropolitan on a relief basis and are very familiar faces to all of us. To Tony and Trish and their children Justin, Lachlan and Sarah; to Debbie and her children Jeremy, Dylan and Emily-Rose; to Denise and Gary, Nathan, Allira and baby Cooper, the most gorgeous little face in Parliament at the moment sitting in the Speaker’s gallery; to Natalie, Josh, Kristi and Michael, thank you for being here today to honour George’s contribution to this Parliament and our community. I would also like to honour Terry Tyzack and his wife, Pat; and Tony Vallelonga and his wife, Mary, who are in the gallery. They are long-serving councillors of the City of Stirling who served on the council with George and were part of that movement to have the City of Stirling be debt free. We can only achieve these things if we have the right people around us. In closing, I would like to put on the record in this place my deep thanks to Hon George Strickland for his contribution to our community. If we look in the gallery, we can see that his major contribution to our community and to the state of Western Australia is with his beautiful family, who I know are so proud. Vale George Strickland. Thank you for a life well lived. MR D.T. REDMAN (Warren–Blackwood) [9.27 am]: On behalf of the Nationals WA, I rise to make a contribution to this condolence motion for George Strickland, former Speaker and member for Scarborough and Innaloo. I would like to express sincere condolence to his wife, Helen, and to his family. Mr Strickland served at the same time as National Party members Hendy Cowan, Monty House, Eric Charlton, Bob Weise and Max Trenorden. Born in Victoria in 1942, Mr Strickland moved to Western Australia in 1946. He was a schoolteacher before entering politics, teaching manual arts at Scarborough Senior High School in 1962 to 1973, and mathematics at Lockridge Senior High School from 1975 to 1984. He was senior master of mathematics at Hampton Senior High School from 1985 to 1989. When I was first elected to Parliament in 2005, in fact, the first time I came to Parliament House, I remember walking into the Speaker’s corridor where, if people in the gallery do not know, all the pictures of the former Speakers hang. I remember that I looked at this fellow and thought, “I know that guy.” For those who know George, he has a smirk. The picture out there has the exact same smirk. I reason I knew that guy is that he was my maths teacher at Lockridge Senior High School. I was a boarder at Swanleigh Hostel at the time. I had bit of a bend or twist for maths, if you like, and really enjoyed what George was able to contribute. I remember my mate sitting next to me leant over and said, “He really lives up to his name, doesn’t he?”, so I can fully appreciate the Premier’s comment about the sort of authority that he had over the chamber, because he had

Reprinted from Hansard [4] the same authority in the classroom and no-one played up in George’s class. He was also extremely smart. I used to enjoy the quizzes in his class. He would have this problem that was a half joke, half quiz and buried inside it was a maths problem. For those of us who had a bit of a twist, we would unpack it, do our algebra on a bit of paper and sort out the answer. When he was my teacher, I rocked up to George one day and I said, “I’ve got this quiz for you”, feeling pretty cocky as a young student. I told him the problem and, of course, the sod sorted it out in his head! He did not write it down and do the maths; he sorted it out in his head. Ever since that day, I have had the utmost respect for his capacity, recognising what he instilled in me as a young school student. That is something that you do not forget. To see his smirk in the picture in the corridor outside this chamber brings back all those memories. Before commencing a distinguished career in state politics, George served as a member of local government. In 1981, he was elected to the City of Stirling, serving from May 1981 to May 1990, which included holding the office of deputy mayor for two years and mayor from 1986 to 1988. He was also a member of the executive of the Western Australian Local Government Association for two years. In 1989, George was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly as the Liberal member for Scarborough, serving until the seat changed to Innaloo in 1996. Between 1990 and 1993, he was the shadow minister for community services, multicultural and ethnic affairs, and youth. After serving as the Deputy Speaker and in several shadow cabinet roles during the Richard Court government, George Strickland was elected unopposed as Speaker in 1997. He was the last Western Australian parliamentary Speaker to wear a wig and cloak, but he would do so for only an hour during the day. Mr Speaker, I thought you might have dusted off the wig and worn it today to match your nice looking beard, perhaps in honour of George Strickland, but, no, that did not happen! George decided to not stand at the 2001 election and he retired from politics. In closing speeches of the thirty-fifth Parliament on 23 November 2000, Mr Strickland remarked — One of my greatest honours was being elected Speaker, unopposed. If anything, that put the pressure on me because it meant that the Opposition thought I would do a good job and was prepared to be supportive. The pressure goes on to be as fair and even-handed as possible. That was a great honour. Judging by the accolades of Mr Strickland’s performance, the measures implemented under his watch as Speaker left him in high regard by both sides of the house. In closing speeches of the thirty-fifth Parliament on 3 November 2000, in his capacity as Deputy Premier, Hendy Cowan acknowledged Mr Strickland as follows — I am sure that in your case, Mr Speaker, history will make a far better comment than I can about the extent of the changes, the reform, the conduct and the demeanour of the Parliament under your speakership. It must be placed on the record that we have seen considerable change in your time as Speaker. More than anything else, we have seen the restoration to the Parliament of a number of issues, not so much authority, but involvement by the Parliament in the functions of government and government administration. The then Leader of the Opposition, Geoff Gallop, said — Mr Speaker, your contribution from the Chair will go down in the history of the 1990s as very significant. We all appreciate what you have done not only in the Chair but also in supporting the work done to improve the standing orders and to ensure that Parliament operates on behalf of everyone. We applaud you for what you have done. Mr Strickland wished to be remembered as a reformer, and he sought stronger communications and up-to-date processes around Parliament House. When he became Speaker, one of the innovations he instituted was the presentation of a complimentary video showing the swearing-in of members and, in relevant cases, maiden speeches were also forwarded through the Speaker’s office to each member. Later, the Legislative Assembly began providing a full television signal of debates to the media and public, which meant that interested citizens could follow the proceedings. At one point, Mr Strickland warned members that they must exercise “the mighty right to speak under protection of parliamentary privilege” with responsibility. Another important procedural change adopted by the Legislative Assembly was the right of reply from persons adversely referred to in the house. It was contended that the procedure enhanced the accountability and openness of Parliament and gave citizens extra rights without diminishing the protections afforded politicians under parliamentary privilege, a point that the Premier made today. If a person felt aggrieved with what had been said in the Legislative Assembly, they were now able to seek to make a statement, subject to being able to convince the Speaker that their reply was not frivolous, libellous or derogatory, to the house. Thereafter, the same claim was referred to the standing orders and the Procedure and Privileges Committee to ensure that the printed reply conformed with the standards of the house before it was finally printed in Hansard. Mr Strickland was an impassioned and active community member, volunteering for many community organisations, which he attributed as an important strength in serving as a member of Parliament. He said — I was a teacher for 27 years and during that time was involved in all sorts of things with my kids, such as Little Athletics. I have often told the story on opening days about what can happen to a person who becomes involved in Little Athletics—one can end up in local government or in Parliament.

Reprinted from Hansard [5] In recognition of his significant volunteer work and service to his community, in February 2000, Mr Strickland was made a Freeman of the City of Stirling, which he stated was the greatest honour of his life. He also had the honour of being awarded the Centenary of Federation Medal in 2003 and a Member of the Order of Australia on 26 January 2007 for service to the Western Australia Parliament as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, local government and the community. Mr Strickland said it was his involvement in local government that opened his eyes to community service and that people and community—not a political party affiliation—led him to run for state Parliament. It is very apparent that Mr Strickland placed great importance on his family, acknowledging, first, how fortunate he was to be born into a family that had strong, positive family and personal values and, second, the influence, loyalty and support of his wife, Helen. He recognised the demands his public life placed on his family and publicly thanked them. Mr George Strickland, AM, leaves a great legacy to his community and our Parliament. May he rest in peace. MRS M.H. ROBERTS (Midland — Minister for Police) [9.35 am]: I am pleased to have the opportunity to say a few words in Parliament about the late Hon George Strickland. George Strickland was already a member of this house when I arrived in 1994. My recollection in the context of that time is that the Richard Court government had been elected in February 1993. There was an expectation that a number of key people who had been strong performers in opposition would be selected as ministers. The two people who everyone thought would become ministers—Phil Pendal and George Strickland—did not become part of the Court government ministry. They had taken on key responsibilities in opposition and were both well-educated and competent, and there was an assumption that they would join the ministry after the election of the Court government. That was not the case for either of them, but George was given the role of Speaker of the house. Had he been chosen, he would have made an excellent minister, but he took on the role of Speaker of this house and excelled in that role. At the risk of offending people, I think he is one of the best Speakers this house has ever had. He was very firm but very fair, and I think some of that came from his background as a high school teacher who dealt with classrooms of teenagers, including the member for Mirrabooka, at Scarborough Senior High School. The more one got to know George, the more one realised that first and foremost in his life were his family. He was a very strong family man; make no mistake, family came first. He was also an extraordinary community person. A lot people give lip-service to being part of a community group and have their name down as a patron and attend meetings once in a while. It was very clear to me—it became even more clear when I recently attended his memorial service—that there was no lip-service to his being part of those community groups or organisations. He went in there boots and all and got outcomes for worthy groups, including Little Athletics and surf clubs. George did not play politics very hard in a Labor/Liberal sense or one side versus the other. His first test was always what was best for the community, and that is possibly why he was given the role of Speaker of the house. He was certainly very capable of being objective and independent in that role. The Premier was right when he said that George Strickland was the last Speaker to wear the wig. That might sound as though George was a fuddy-duddy clinging on to the past, but he was not. The last Speaker to wear the wig on a daily basis was Hon Jim Clarko. There was a real expectation on George. George did not want to wear the wig and have all the formalities and regalia. That really was not who he was. However, as I understand it, there was an expectation by his colleagues that he would continue to cling to the wig and cloak and the ceremonial part of being the Speaker. As he often did, George came up with a good compromise. My recollection is that for the opening of Parliament he wore the full regalia, but at other times he did not. At question time George would generally don the cloak but not the wig. I remember sitting on the other side when Hon Jim Clarko was Speaker and he would wear the wig. He was getting a little hard of hearing as he got older and the wig hung down. The wig had already become an anachronism and we would call out things like, “Get that sheep off your head and you’ll be able to hear us better!” Jim would flap out the wig like a long dog ear to try to listen to us. George was really a moderniser, so when he came in as Speaker I thought it was particularly refreshing that he did not feel the need to wear the heavy long-hair horse wig on a daily basis, but he did wear it for things such as the opening of Parliament and ceremonial occasions. There was a bit of a homage with the black cloak that he wore for question time. I think that was an appropriate compromise. People have already mentioned that George put in place a number of reforms. I was reminded at his memorial service that there were big parliamentary reforms—I will get to some of those in a moment—but there were also some practical things. It was George who put the shoe shiners in the toilets. That was an initiative of his time as Speaker. How handy has that become? The first move was to put the shoe shiners in the men’s toilets, and there were no shoe shiners in the women’s toilets. As members might imagine—I do not think this will surprise anyone—George received a very strong complaint from Hon Alannah MacTiernan who said that women have to don boots to go onto worksites and do all kinds of things and that our shoes might need shining too. A shoe shiner in the ladies’ toilet followed a shoe shiner in the men’s. I was fortunate to have a lot to do with George in his time as Speaker between 1997 and 2001. After the December 1996 election Geoff Gallop asked me to be manager of opposition business—a role that put me in close contact with the Speaker but also put Eric Ripper and me on the Procedure and Privileges Committee with Hon George Strickland.

Reprinted from Hansard [6] That was a pretty hardworking committee. We had lots of meetings and handed down lots of reports. We made an enormous number of recommendations. George had a strategy for them all: we did not just lump everything at once. He said we would do things in measurable bites; we would let people try things; we would go for some reforms and talk to the government about adopting them. Ultimately the reforms do not go anywhere if the government of the day does not support them. For a Liberal man, he saw the needs of families in this place. He saw the changing demographic of the people who made up the Parliament. He was very welcoming here of my two very young primary school-aged children—they might even have been in preschool at the start. He acknowledged that it was not only women who were joining the Parliament, but that lots of young men had families and that the sitting hours here were not appropriate. We made significant changes to the sitting hours at that time. We used to sit routinely late on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights. We did not start until 11 o’clock on Thursdays. When we start at 9.00 am we have to finish a little earlier on a Wednesday; when the house did not start until 11.00 am there was no compunction in sitting us here until 1.00 am or 2.00 am, or beyond, on a Wednesday night as well as the Tuesday night. We used to have an hour and a half dinner break every night when we would sit around. We thought that perhaps we could work on through. Now on a Wednesday night we generally sit through until 7.00 pm with no dinner break, and our dinner break on Tuesday was reduced to an hour. Coming in at 9 o’clock rather than 11 o’clock on a Thursday and at midday rather than 2.00 pm on a Wednesday, and cutting down the dinner break on a Thursday and so forth, meant that we were able to not have to routinely sit until close to midnight on a Wednesday night and that most people got to go home to their families on a Tuesday from 7.00 pm onwards. George was also the Speaker who brought in what he called “family night”, which is now known as “buffet night”. It is held less frequently now, although I note that there was one last night. On buffet night members are welcome to invite whom they like. Under George’s reign it was called family night and it was an innovation introduced because George thought that it would be good for families to come up here and spend time with their parent— the reverse of “If Muhammad cannot come to the mountain, take the mountain to Muhammad.” That was a good innovation. The preference was for bookings to be made for people and their families so they could spend some time here in their work environment. That was another excellent innovation. George also introduced an innovation to the committee system, which we take for granted now. When I first entered this place, and when George was here, most committees were select committees. There were very few standing committees. Someone would come up with a good idea for something and away we would go with that. The focus might be on recycling, and then next thing we knew, there would be a committee on recycling. Another issue would be raised, and then there would be a select committee on that issue. If one was clever enough and had a good enough issue together with a bit of momentum, one would lobby the government, and probably the Premier of the day, and that select committee would be set up and someone would get to chair it. Now we have a system of standing committees. George said that Parliaments around Australia had people involved in standing committees. An additional payment was given in recognition of that work and now all portfolios are divided between those three policy-based standing committees. That is a vastly more modern and superior system. The reforms that took place, and there were a lot of them, were the biggest reforms that have taken place to the standing orders of this house in the past several decades or more. It is indicative of a couple of things. One is that George was a reformer. He was not there just to enjoy the position. He was keen to see the Parliament improve and advance. He was keen to see better conditions for members of Parliament, as has already been alluded to, and the right of response to people who were adversely affected. He took a very commonsense approach to the Parliament. He had a background in local government. He was practical and he was a reformer. As I mentioned a moment ago, Eric Ripper and I were lucky enough to serve on that committee with George. We got to know him well. Having had many meetings and having done a lot of work with George, he said to my then leader, Geoff Gallop, that he would like Eric and I to travel with him as Speaker to China. We made that trip in 1998. We were lucky enough to be joined by Helen Strickland for a couple of weeks. During that time, we went to Hungjao, where George took the part of the groom in a wedding ceremony. We all joked that we had been at George’s wedding to his Chinese bride! We had a lot of fun. Peter McHugh, the then Clerk, also came with us. We saw some important projects and developments in China. We travelled down the Yangtze River when it was in significant flood. We went to Wuhan and inspected the now very famous Three Gorges Dam project before the dam was constructed. We went to places such as Thousand Island Lake, and got to know George and Helen even better. They were fantastic people—very, very decent people. It certainly comes as no surprise to me to hear Geoff Gallop’s comments on George’s term as Speaker, as mentioned by the member for Warren–Blackwood. I will not quote them again. Geoff was not easy to impress when it came to Parliament’s procedures and so forth. His comments certainly were not given lightly when praising George Strickland in his role as Speaker and the way that he conducted himself. George’s motto was to always be true to yourself and your word. It is a motto that he lived by. What shone out for me first and foremost was his outstanding commitment to his family; and, second, a commitment to community that is beyond what I have seen from most other people. He had an unbelievable and genuine commitment to

Reprinted from Hansard [7] community. He was an excellent member of Parliament. The member for Scarborough commented on his effectively bipartisan approach. He certainly had friends on both sides of the house. He commanded significant respect in this place. He has made an outstanding contribution to this Parliament and to the community of Western Australia. I would like to put on the record my thanks and condolences to his family, particularly his wife, Helen; his children, Tony, Debbie and Denise, and their partners and grandchildren. All of you can be amazingly proud of the contribution that George made not just to Parliament but to the community in which he lived. MR A. KRSTICEVIC (Carine) [9.52 am]: Today I would like to speak about Hon George Joseph Strickland, AM. George was born in Melbourne on 3 October 1942 and came to Western Australia with his family when he was very young. He had three brothers and a sister. I know that George’s wife, Helen, and many of his family members and friends are here today to witness our tributes to George. I would like to personally welcome you all to the house. Each one of us who speaks today has special memories of George, and I am very happy to have the opportunity to share mine with you. George and Helen have three children, Anthony, Deborah and Denise; eight grandchildren, Nathan, Natalie, Kristi, Jeremy, Dylan, Emily-Rose, Justin and Lachlan; and one great-grandson, Cooper. I understand that we also have some other special guests to witness our tributes to George. Stephanie Power and Lyn Williams were George’s first electorate officers and, together with Stephanie’s husband, Kevin, were all at Parliament House for his inaugural speech. There are also some people here today who walked the streets for George in his many council and parliamentary elections, delivering pamphlets for many years. I would like to offer you all a very special welcome. George began his professional life as a teacher. He taught for 25 years: at Scarborough Senior High School as a manual arts teacher, at Lockridge Senior High School as a maths teacher, and at Hampton Senior High School as maths head of department. What a small world. I went to Hampton Senior High School and worked out that George left just two years before I started. He was also officer commanding and captain of cadets at Scarborough Senior High School from 1965 to 1974. George was a community man first and foremost. It was his focus for most of his life. He also spent 21 years volunteering as a justice of the peace. The Croatian club was a huge part of George’s life. He established a very strong and long-term connection with the club, which lasted for life. He was made a life member, and he and Helen spent many happy Friday nights there having dinner with family and friends. Before I move on to George’s many wonderful accomplishments in his professional life, I will share a little story I heard. I was very impressed with his driving skills. When he lived in South Perth in 1961, he met Helen, who lived in Gooseberry Hill. He obviously thought that she was a keeper because in order to return her home after a date, he had to get to the top of Davies Crescent. I believe that Davies Crescent is not all that steep, but at that time, George owned an old 1926 Morris Cowley that cost him £20. Unfortunately, there was something wrong with its timing and the only way he could get to the top of Davies Crescent was to turn the car around and speed up backwards for about two kilometres. Clearly, his reversing skills were exemplary because both he and Helen survived this challenge and moved forward to live happily ever after. George served as a City of Stirling councillor for the Hamersley ward from 1981 until 1990. During this time he was deputy mayor from 1984 to 1986 and mayor from 1986 to 1988. In February 2000, he was bestowed the title of honorary Freeman of the municipality. He was a very enthusiastic councillor and contributed to the benefit of the city and community in many different ways. He presented a paper “The Debt Dilemma, City of Stirling” at a local government conference. One of his proudest achievements was putting in place the foundations for a debt-free City of Stirling. George joined the Liberal Party in 1988 and set his sights on winning the seat of Scarborough in 1989. At that time it was held by Graham Burkett, a colourful Labor politician who won the seat in 1983 and increased his margin in the 1986 election. Everyone thought that George had no chance of winning. However, he stunned everyone, except himself of course, by winning the unwinnable seat, with a large swing. One of George’s fondest memories was when Graham Burkett came to his home after that win to congratulate him. I am not sure whether Graham knew that some of the people who worked on George’s polling booths were members of the Labor Party. George was elected to the thirty-third state Parliament on 4 February 1989 and held his seat until it was abolished at the 1996 election. He then went on to win the new seat of Innaloo, which essentially replaced the old seat of Scarborough, and held that seat until 2001 when he decided not to re-contest. During his time in office, George served on 10 different committees and also held the following positions: from June 1990 until November 1992, he was shadow Minister for Community Services, and Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs; from May 1992 until November 1992, he was shadow Minister for Youth; from November 1992 until February 1993, he was shadow Minister for Community Services, and Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs; from June 1993 to November 1996, he was Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and Chairman of Committees; and from March 1997 until January 2001, he was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.

Reprinted from Hansard [8] George was a very passionate member of the Stirling division of the Liberal Party and was not afraid to challenge anyone’s views, including those held by his own side. He stood up for what he believed in and fought to achieve those outcomes for the community. He had many friends from both sides of politics, with some saying to him that the only thing wrong with him was that he was on the wrong side. Personally of course, that is not something that I would agree with. George was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia on 26 January 2007 for his service to the Western Australian Parliament as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, as well as his service to local government and to the community. He was also awarded the Centenary of Federation Medal in 2003. His unwavering support for the local community for more than 25 years was characterised by the fact that he was either patron, vice patron or chairman of 24 different local sport and recreation clubs. George was also passionate about the environment. He was chairman of the Star Swamp and Trigg Bushland Advisory Committee from 1985 to 1995 and chairman of the Charles Riley Reserve Advisory Committee from 1978 to 1999. Like the member for Scarborough, I was very fortunate to have George and Hon Jim Clarko as part of my very first campaign committee in 2008. Both were experienced old hands at campaigning and were very happy to share their advice with a novice, providing me with valuable guidance. I was most appreciative of the time they spent helping me learn the ropes. George had been an avid stamp collector since 1978. However, during the last five years, George became more passionate about his hobby and spent an increasing amount of time with his stamps. Family caravanning holidays were a highlight of the year, spent at Dawesville, crabbing and boating. George’s boat was his pride and joy and the source of many fond family memories. True to form, George always chose to support the community. When the City of Stirling offered to provide a function to celebrate his life, he chose to support his beloved Croatian club and had his final farewell there. Rest in peace, my friend. Your contribution to your community will never be forgotten and is one you can be very proud of. I would like to extend my deepest condolences to Helen and the family. Vale George Strickland. MS M.M. QUIRK (Girrawheen) [9.59 am]: I extend my sincere condolences to George’s wife, Helen; children, Tony, Debbie and Denise; their spouses and partners; and the extended family. The honourable George Strickland and I were not in Parliament together at the same time. He retired in 2001 when I was first elected. However, we frequently crossed paths at many City of Stirling events over the years. George had been conferred the status of Freeman of the City of Stirling, so he and Helen were honoured fixtures at council functions. I acknowledge in the gallery former Mayors of the City of Stirling Tony Vallelonga and Terry Tyzack. I want to put on record that George was very generous in his advice to me as a newly elected member. It was advice I very much appreciated and respected, as I was aware that George was a grassroots politician who had served with distinction both at local government and state Parliament. As we have heard, George understood his community and actively participated in many local groups and organisations. I should also mention his service as shadow Minister for Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs. Those who have served in that position know that it is onerous in the sense that one needs to attend a lot of functions; your Saturday nights are never your own. His service was acknowledged by the conferral of membership of the Order of Australia. In our discussions, I was relieved to discover that George Strickland was not in the least ideologically inclined. He was always engaging and entertaining. From my observations, Helen and George made a great team. As someone who passes the portrait of George Strickland as Speaker in the Speaker’s Corridor frequently, I observe, although I was pleased to hear only for ceremonial occasions, that he was the last person holding that office to wear a full-bottomed horse-hair wig. I reflect this would have been quite uncomfortable in the days before the chamber was properly air-conditioned. No doubt, our equine friends would have neighed with relief when this practice was discontinued! Finally, a fun fact. While refreshing my memory on George’s background, I discovered that his mother’s name was Ellen Sykes, the very same name as my maternal grandmother. I am not asserting that they were one and the same, but, rather, I regret that I did not have the opportunity to explore this strange coincidence with George in person. Rest in peace. MR J.E. McGRATH (South Perth) [10.02 am]: I rise to make a contribution to this condolence motion. At the outset, I need to say that I really did not know George very much at all—I met him a couple of times, very briefly—but I have discovered that the Strickland family has an enormous connection with South Perth. In fact, there is a magnificent tree-lined street in South Perth that is named after them—Strickland Street, a well-known street. I think the connection all began with George’s grandfather, who was also called George, who I found out in my research actually built and owned the Windsor Hotel. A landmark heritage-listed hotel in South Perth was

Reprinted from Hansard [9] built by George’s grandfather in 1898. At the time, George’s grandfather was obviously a man of means, because he owned all the land between the Windsor Hotel and the Mends Street jetty. One can imagine what that would be worth today! But it was not developed; it was a hole in the ground. Obviously, he owned it and was waiting to build on it. I am told by locals who were around at the time that if they wanted to meet someone, on one side of Mends Street would be the little shops, on the other side would be the Windsor, and at the back of the Windsor there was this hole in the ground, and people would say, “I’ll meet you at the hole in the ground.” It was a well-known part of South Perth. If one goes down to the bottom where Coco’s is now, which is a very famous restaurant, around the corner from Coco’s was old George Strickland’s home. Apparently, it was a magnificent old home with tennis courts at the front. It was a place that South Perth residents knew very well. When George’s father, an engineer, came back from Victoria, he later on became a councillor of the City of South Perth. For most of that time, he was deputy mayor. There were three Georges on the council back then, I am told: George Burnett, who was mayor for a long time; George Strickland, who was the deputy mayor; and another councillor called George Henley. They were known as the three Georges. I am told that George Strickland was quite vocal during the time of the building of the Narrows Bridge because it was going to have a large impact on South Perth when the freeway went through, and there was a lot of discussion by the residents, because with the initial planning for the Narrows Bridge, it was going to go right through where the old mill is. The local residents, I think supported by Bill Grayden, the local member at the time, and people like George Strickland, who was on the council, fought very much against that, which meant that the government of the day eventually agreed to move the freeway away. A lot of site works had to be done, but it did save the old mill, which was very important. That was George’s contribution. I note that George went to Forrest Street Primary School. For those who do not know, Forrest Street Primary School is now South Perth Primary School, the biggest primary school in our electorate and an amazing school. Then George went on to Wesley College. I was at Wesley College this week for a performance by Bell Shakespeare, which was very interesting. While I was there, I looked at the honour roll and the photos on the wall. Wesley College has produced a lot of members of Parliament. The ones that I can gather, and I hope I do not miss any, are Sir Ross Hutchinson; David Johnston, a former senator; Barry MacKinnon, a former leader of the Liberal opposition; Arthur Marshall, a very close friend of mine and well known to a lot of the members of Parliament; Ross McLean; Crawford Nalder, who was a Deputy Premier; Cambell Nalder, the father of the current member for Bateman, Dean Nalder, who also went to Wesley; Peter Shack; Tony Williams; and I think the latest member of the Wesley team to join Parliament was Peter Rundle, the member for Roe. Are there any others? Ms M.J. Davies: Brendon Grylls. Mr J.E. McGRATH: Brendon Grylls was a Wesley boy. He was not on my list; I had better get him added. Mrs L.M. Harvey: Dexter Davies. Mr J.E. McGRATH: The member for Central Wheatbelt’s dad. This happens whenever someone mentions a list! It just goes to show—what an impressive list for a school! I did not see any Labor members on the list, but we are probably working on that. Another thing that I liked about George Strickland was his valedictory speech, which the Leader of the Opposition mentioned. I can epitomise with this, because he said that while he is a Liberal and he supports the direction of the Liberal Party — From time to time I like to argue with the detail. There is nothing wrong with that. A good bit of scrutiny and a few questions here and there shake the thing around, which is healthy for democracy. It is often not healthy for the actual member, but it is very healthy for democracy. I like that. I think that is a reason George was able to win that seat at a time when Labor was in government, and he won the seat when Scarborough was recognised as a Labor seat. It was obviously a wonderful career. Members of Parliament have spoken in glowing terms about George’s contribution to this place, and I am proud that there is a South Perth connection with the Strickland name, because I think they are a wonderful family, who had an impact not only in my electorate, but also in the City of Stirling and in this place. My sympathies go to Helen, who I spoke to earlier today. It was the first time I had met Helen. My sympathies, and those of the Liberal Party, go to her and her family, for the contribution that George made to not only this place, but also the Western Australian community. MR J.R. QUIGLEY (Butler — Attorney General) [10.10 am]: I rise to join with other members in this condolence motion for the late George Strickland and to extend my sincere condolences to Helen, his widow, who is with us in this chamber in the Speaker’s gallery.

Reprinted from Hansard [10] I first met George Strickland in 1983, when he was a City of Stirling councillor. At the time, I got very close to George, and to the other George at that table—George Cash. The Stirling council had been controlled by a Labor bloc for a number of years, led by the late Graham Burkett, who was the mayor at the time and was later elected to this chamber. After his election to this chamber, he continued as mayor for some time at the City of Stirling. I am glad that the Minister for Transport is in the chamber today because my first interaction with George was over transport. That was the extension of Marmion Avenue across Karrinyup Road to join West Coast Drive near Trigg. That extension was strongly opposed by Labor luminaries led by Ron Edwards, who was then a federal member of Parliament and whose house was in the bushland where that road would go. The safety issue on the City of Stirling council to block that project and condemn the beach users and people living on West Coast Highway, which included me, to a never-ending stream of trucks, traffic and death. I first met George Strickland when I was lobbying the City of Stirling. I organised a petition to hold a public meeting. It was one of the biggest public meetings that the City of Stirling had had. It was held at the Charles Riley Memorial Reserve, in a hall that has now been torn down. People could not get into the hall because everyone wanted that extension for obvious safety reasons. I came upon an idea: Why not change the complexion of the council? Why not bring one of the Labor people across to vote with the Liberal bloc? I was not a member of the Labor Party at the time so I cannot be excommunicated ex post facto. Mrs M.H. Roberts: I don’t know! Mr J.R. QUIGLEY: I think I have to be careful here! We will leave that until preselections in February. I approached George Strickland and George Cash and the Labor people. It became evident that the Liberal bloc would proceed with the sensible road, and the Labor bloc would not. It was decided to have a go at making George the mayor and try to get the numbers, because a vote around the table would make George the Mayor of Stirling. It became evident to me that that was not going to happen because there was a chap there called Barry Britton, who Helen and Terry Tyzack and others from the city who are in the chamber today would well remember. Labor was going to rule, Britton was going to take over, and the road would never happen. I went to one of the weaker Labor people on that side and suggested that he come across and vote for George so George could become mayor, we could get the road done and he could be deputy mayor. Joe Camilleri was a cagey guy, and he thought about that for a while then said, “I’ll tell you what—I’ll vote for the road if I become the mayor.” So I had to go and tell George, “We have the votes but …”, and so the honour board for 1983 reads “J. Camilleri, Mayor, City of Stirling”. George and I got on well because he was also promoting a debt-free City of Stirling. George announced in 1999 or 2000 that he would not be going around again. George and I did all these little sneaky things behind people’s backs to get that road through. At that time, in 1999, there was a bit of a push against me in the Labor Party. We all know that I got preselected by half a vote in 2000 and claimed fame as the narrowest preselection in ALP history in Australia. George said a few things, that I was a loose cannon and so forth, but I have to thank George, and Helen would bear witness to this. My Liberal opponent was a chap by the name of Wayne McCurry, who was a sergeant of police. George went around to all the community groups— the Scarborough Sportsman’s Club and the Scarborough Surf Life Saving Club—and said that I would be a good member. He quietly backed me without being publicly disloyal to his party. I never saw him once campaign for Wayne McCurry. The Scarborough community groups such as the Scarborough Ratepayers Association and Mr Foley — Mrs L.M. Harvey: John—he’s still going! Mr J.R. QUIGLEY: The member for Scarborough says that John Foley is still going! Wherever I went, George was kind enough to back me with the community groups as a worthy successor. Because the Minister for Transport is in the chamber I would like to conclude by repeating one of his favourite community transport topics. I am sure that George would be very pleased that I stand here as a minister to talk about it on his behalf and on the behalf of the community of Scarborough, which George loved so much. I remember him making a speech about this on his way out of here. He said that Scarborough would one day become a Bondi or bigger than Bondi and that it is the premium beach in Western Australia. He said it was blighted with about 25 000 cars moving through its major intersection. The member for Scarborough knows what it is like from four o’clock in the morning. This is where we are attracting tourists to, the late George Strickland would say. He said we were going to get more traffic and more tourists and Western Australia would be the worse for it. George’s idea was one that I fully supported, but I was never in government at a time when I could support it around the table. His idea was that where West Coast Highway comes down to Scarborough Beach Road, which is where the traffic jam is with people in their bathers along with the traffic and the cars, was in a valley, so it would be the perfect place for a grade separation for a bridge so that West Coast Drive could go over the top of Scarborough Beach Road. That would separate the tens of thousands of cars from the beach users and tourists below. If you are listening, George, I hope I have done you proud by repeating your last entreaty to this chamber on your behalf. My deepest condolences to George’s family, to Helen and all in his extended family. Vale, George Strickland.

Reprinted from Hansard [11] MR D.R. MICHAEL (Balcatta) [10.19 am]: I am honoured to be able to speak on this condolence motion. My time in this Parliament began 17 years after George left it, so I will not comment much on his role in this house or as Speaker. We have heard from others about that today, along with the outstanding work he did with community groups, especially in the western part of the City of Stirling. I want to talk about his time at the City of Stirling. I think the Attorney General just gave us a quick flavour of what life on the City of Stirling was like in the 1980s; it was extraordinarily political. It was not like that during my time there and, from what I can tell, it is still no longer like that. I see Freeman Vallelonga up the back; I think that is in large part thanks to when he was mayor and Terry Tyzack was a councillor; hopefully he will also be a Freeman one day soon. In the early 1980s it was very much a red team and a blue team. There were stories about there being a red table and a blue table at dinners. We have heard today that George tried to do things in a bipartisan manner and to get consensus on issues. I spoke to Terry last night and he told me that very soon after George was elected to the City of Stirling, he went to the red team, which at the time was headed up by Barry Britton, as the Attorney General mentioned. I never met Barry, but Terry said last night that he probably would have done quite well in Moscow; that is how left he was! George had an agreement over some issue with Barry Britton. They ended up going to a council meeting, and George was all ready to pass whatever policy it was but Barry then turned around and did the opposite and said, “George, that’s politics.” I am told that the City of Stirling in the 1980s was very, very political. I imagine it would have been a hard place to get anything done. I have also heard stories of occasions when the whole council had agreed on a budget, but that when budget night came around whoever had the numbers, red or blue, would come in on the night— surprisingly, the officers as well—and say, “Well, we have a completely new budget. All the wards of the red team get everything and the blue team get nothing.” It was very political, so to get anything done at the City of Stirling would have been, and was, very difficult. That makes George’s achievements all the more impressive. Terry gave me two examples last night. The City of Stirling did not have a good system for policies of the council; policies were ad hoc and officers would use policy as a defence all the time. They were not written down and councillors had no idea what they were. Councillors who were smart or articulate could get more than other councillors who were less so, which meant that it was not a level playing field. George went about with other councillors, like Terry and Tony, to sort this out and set up a policy system, and it remains in place to this day. Although a lot of the policies have changed or have been combined, there is still a very strong policy system at the City of Stirling, so everyone knows what is meant to happen and how it is meant to happen, and everything is fairer for councillors and the local community. Many members this morning have spoken about the city’s debt-free policy. When I came to council in 2005 at age 25, never having seen a City of Stirling budget before, I had lots of ideas to build grand buildings and new community centres around the place. Despite all the councillors wanting things for their own areas and the officers normally having a completely separate agenda, the one constant in my time there—I think it is still the case today—was the idea that whatever we did in the budget, the city must remain debt free. At budget time we would talk about other councils around the metropolitan area that had significant debts and were paying significant amounts of interest with ratepayers’ money every year. In all our budget meetings at the City of Stirling, the culture was, “Whatever we do, we must remain debt free.” Last night I looked at George’s inaugural speech in this place, and he spoke at length about the City of Stirling’s debt-free policy. He said that when they did the numbers and once the program was implemented, City of Stirling ratepayers would be 12.5 per cent better off, which at the time was $3 million a year, for each and every year beyond 1993. That is a lot more than what $3 million a year is worth these days for ratepayers in the Osborne ward or the electorate of Balcatta. I know the constituents in my area owe a great debt of gratitude to George and the councillors of that time for implementing that debt-free policy. It means that we can do more, and the culture at the City of Stirling is that we will always retain that, which is a very good thing. George went on to say in his inaugural speech — … as individuals we necessarily plan to eliminate our private debt before retirement because of the dire alternative consequences if we do not. Governments do not retire, and members come and go, and public debts mount. Who then is ultimately held responsible and who will repay these debts? Our children will, or theirs, but not the creators of the debts. Nothing looms more threatening to limit their economic freedom than a growing public debt. That is something that he did at the City of Stirling, which means that the ratepayers who came along after he was a councillor there, after he was a member in this place and now after his life has ended, will not have to suffer the burden of interest payments on the debt that the City of Stirling used to have. He has done a lot for the City of Stirling in that area.

Reprinted from Hansard [12] On a side note, George in his inaugural speech also had some very good things to say about former member Graham Burkett. He sought and gained permission to table his election results in his inaugural speech! I wish I had seen that before I did my inaugural speech, because I would have loved to have done the same thing. That was a very good idea, and I had a laugh when I read that last night. I also know George was active at the time the City of Stirling came under attack from multiple governments in local government reform, most recently in the last lot of reforms, which I will not talk about, but also in the 1990s. The City of Stirling was under significant threat of being split into two or three councils, but ended up losing only the suburb of Maylands. I know that George, in government, played a big part in ensuring that the City of Stirling was protected, because he believed that bigger local government can do more, and more efficiently, than smaller local government. As we have heard, George was made a Freeman of the City in 2000. That is a big deal at Stirling; it does not do it often. Now, after George’s passing, there are only two left—Tony Vallelonga and former officer Rod Constantine. Freemen come to lots of civic events and to swearing-in ceremonies of new councils. When I was elected in 2005— I am pretty sure it is done quite randomly—it was George who swore me into council. It was the only time I have had to do this, but I had to swear allegiance to Her Majesty. As most members will know, I found that terribly, terribly difficult to do! I am pretty sure George saw that I had my fingers crossed when he swore me in, obviously because I am a Republican, but he did not say anything. I am not sure whether George was a monarchist or a Republican, but I am very happy that he did not pull me up as I was being sworn in to my first night on council. He and Helen were always active at civic events, attending many volunteer thankyou dinners and other events at the City of Stirling to say thank you to people in our community who have done good things. The last time I saw George was at the Christmas event last year; Lenda and I had the honour of sitting at the dinner table next to George and Helen. George always gave his opinions on the state politics of the day, some of which was favourable to this side of the house, and some of which was not, but he would always give me advice and was always very friendly. I think he liked me because I seemed to get on well with him. He would talk about his stamp collection, and being half Finnish I have inherited a large number of Finnish stamps from my grandparents. I promised him I would put them in an envelope and give them to him at the next civic event. That envelope is still on my desk at home. George was a giant in the City of Stirling community. To Helen, her family and friends, my deepest condolences. THE SPEAKER (Mr P.B. Watson) [10.28 am]: Hon George Strickland was elected unopposed as the twenty-sixth Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on 6 March 1997 and he held that position until 10 February 2001. On his election, the then Leader of the Opposition, Hon Dr Geoff Gallop, commented — During your time in this Parliament you have built up a reputation as one who supports our Parliament and who has taken a great deal of interest in the conduct and functioning of the Parliament and improvements in the parliamentary systems. Hon George Strickland responded by saying — … I will dedicate myself to act for the betterment of the Parliament, the procedures, the services and the facilities for members, the staff and the public. That is exactly what he did. It is interesting to read one of the comments he made in his valedictory speech on 23 November 2000. He noted that if he had a disappointment, it was the failure to achieve the upgrade to the parliamentary building. He said — My greatest disappointment is that money was not made available to upgrade the parliamentary building … Everyone who works here must put up with the inadequacies of the place. It seems that some things do not change much! I offer my sincerest condolences to Helen and the family on the passing of Hon George Strickland. I request all members to rise for one minute’s silence to carry the motion. Question passed; members and officers standing as a mark of respect. ______

Reprinted from Hansard [13]